*SPOILER ALERT* If you haven’t watched last night’s broadcast of WWE NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn, please go shell out $9.99 and watch it. This single show is worth the subscription… and not just for one month. Results of the NXT Women’s Championship match IMMEDIATELY follow this sentence *SPOILER ALERT*
With the “Divas Revolution” in full swing and gaining more steam than ever before, now-former NXT Women’s Champion Sasha Banks and now-former #1 Contender for that same title, Bayley, SHOULD HAVE closed out the NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn card instead of merely “co-main-eventing”. (See… as I said, IMMEDIATELY)
But, pardon me: I’m pontificating entirely too soon. As Paul Heymen has been so kind as to instruct eager fans and grapplers in the past, it is important for a newcomer to introduce themselves when they have something to say PRIOR to heading straight into how they feel.
My name is Warren Sprague, I’m a resident of Las Vegas, Nevada and, in the context of this article, all you must know is that I am a die-hard wrestling fan. Since the night of Wrestlemania X8, when I was finally allowed to tune into the pre-PPV episode of WWE Sunday Night Heat, I have hosted seemingly hundreds of nights with my friends as we crowded around televisions of various sizes and picture resolutions to cheer on our favorite grapplers on Monday Night Raw and various WWE PPV’s. I know my way around the encyclopedia of wresting holds, as I’ve researched years of content stretching long before the time I was allowed to watch the art form live. Like so many young men who state themselves to love pro-wrestling, I was smart enough to recognize greats like The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley, Kurt Angle, and a plethora of others as masters of their craft. I was even able to find a way to be a JBL fan when I was literally the only one who understood why WWE had him retain his WWE title month after month en-route to becoming the most hated man in wrestling. I cried when Eddie Guerrero died. The images of the now-lost Chris Benoit tribute show are burned into my mind…
Until recently, absent from my general appreciation: Divas matches. Yes, despite seeing all the Lita, Trish Stratus, Victoria, and Mickie James matches one would expect over the years, I never entirely embraced those great athletes beyond their beautiful bodies and batting lashes. Though I respected their athleticism and commitment to their performances, I found myself among those calling their segments the “bathroom break” of the evening. The only time I ever rewound the VCR during a Divas appearance was so I could see Lita’s thong or Stratus’ cleavage a second time. The physicality seemed sloppy and slow-paced in comparison to the matches the women’s male counter-parts performed on a nightly basis. When I played my WWE Smackdown! Video games, ladies matches were relegated to the gimmicky adolescent-friendly “bra-and-panties” matches; and you would find every Diva on the “Inactive” roster when I played the different General Manager-esque modes. Looking back, am I proud of my perception? Of course not, but I own up to it because I know I wasn’t alone. My friends (male and female alike) agreed with my view with lukewarm indifference night in and night out. Why bother paying mind to a segment of the roster that was destined not to make a difference?
For years that opinion prevailed. Sure, women like A.J. Lee, Michelle McCool, and Kaitlyn challenged that perception, but even still the division generally lacked the bite, influence, or intensity to keep us captivated beyond the final bell.
Then, the WWE Network came along, and with it the boasting emergence of NXT.
